Parks on arrival day or no "off" day?

keepswimming76 · Nov 22, 2015

Hi everyone.

My husband and I are conflicted on what we should do in this situation.

We are staying 9 nights at WDW, arriving on a Thursday around noon and leaving on a Saturday afternoon. We also have a split stay which complicates matters.
4 nights AKL, then 5 nights BLT. We are planning 7 day hoppers, and using 1 day to travel to Legoland.

We cannot decide if we should go to MK on arrival day (arrive around 3 p.m. and stay until about 8) and then have an "off" day later in the trip, or if we should use arrival day as time to just regroup, enjoy the pool and get a good nights rest - and then have a couple of our park days as "half" days, so to speak.

Any advice either way is greatly appreciated. We are in the middle of our 180 ADR reservations and I am losing my mind over this matter.

ZoZo · Nov 22, 2015

How early do you have to get up on your arrival day? How tired will you be? That might help you decide if you want to take it easy on arrival day, get to bed early, then hit it hard (getting up early) the next day, or (option 2) go to a park.

I always have to fly coast-to-coast, from Washoington state. With the three-hour time zone change, and the fact that I have to get up super-early to catch my flight, all I want to do on arrival day is have dinner, get settled, and go to bed early. But other folks don't have such hard travel days, and are so excited on arrival day they can't imagne not going to a park!

loves to dive · Nov 22, 2015

Normally I would say go to a park on arrival day since I always do but since you are there for plenty of days and are starting off at AK, I'd say just hang around and enjoy the resort. If you want a great experience, book the Wayama (sp?) safari which is only available to AK guests. I think it is around $300 each but well worth it. They start you out with typical African appys in one of the restaurants then you get your own private safari on the savannahs that are located at the resort. Well, private that you share with 10 or 12 other guests. You have your own guide and they tell you cool things about the animals and place. Then you get a great meal and wine pairing. Or just look around the resort, make ADRs at one of the restaurants and relax.

happymommy · Nov 23, 2015

We always go to a park the day we arrive, even if it's just for a couple hours!
Yes, we're also tired, but that's how we roll.
That being said, next trip DD and I don't land until about 2:30, so by the time we get checked into Pop for our first two nights, we may just chill that day. Normally we arrive earlier, but this was how our flights worked out for next trip. We have AP's so we'll play it by ear. If we do go out, it'll likely be to WS in Epcot to grab some dinner.

Accident · Nov 23, 2015

If something is opened, we always pass through even if it's just a we're here stroll around and maybe a snack. Springs included.

SGMCO · Nov 23, 2015

We never go to the parks on our arrival day, we usually enjoy your resort for a few hours (swim or look around, get settled in, eat lunch). Then if we aren't to tired we head to Disney Springs to see what's new.

MickeyWaffles · Nov 24, 2015

We have done both. All depends on our travel schedule and who is with us.

Because our flight leaves at 6 am central and we live about 45 minutes from the airport, it'll be a pretty early morning for DD on her first trip (she'll turn one on our trip).

We are staying at Kidani so we plan to just explore AKL, settle in our room, and hit Disney Springs, fully expecting her to take a pretty hefty stroller nap

So we are doing something, but not a park this time.

yorkieteacher · Nov 24, 2015

If it were just me and DH, I would enjoy the resort and maybe book a good meal at another resort to check out also, or head to Disney Springs. HOWEVER, my kids would never be satisfied if they didn't go into one of the parks for a bit as soon as possible! Maybe a character meal early dinner in one of the parks and then seeing the evening show, and get in a few rides between those that are not as crowded, especially later in the evenings.

Shelly F - Ohio · Nov 25, 2015

I wouldn't go to a park just for 5 hours. I would relax and be ready to hit the ground running the next day

Nathansmommy · Nov 25, 2015

We have done both, on solo trips just DH and I we do park on arrival day, our last 2 trips we have taken DS(3) and DD(10months) and we use our arrival as an off day. Since it's just you and your DH I would go to a park.

andiraye · Nov 25, 2015

By the time we got to the resort on our last two trips it was around 2:00, and with two little kids (ie, early dinner and bedtimes), it wasn't worth it to go to a park. But with two adults, I would go to the park for the evening and then enjoy an off day in the middle of the trip. I would stay for MSEP and Wishes, though. I love those shows!

Stefecatzz · Nov 26, 2015

I would say it depends on how long of a day your travel day will be. You will be arriving at a great resort to relax & have a nice meal so that's definitely something yous should do whether it's on arrival day or a half park day. I can't speak from my own experience since the drive up there for me is 2 1/2 hours & I'm only ever there for 3 nights at a time so no breaks for me. I do allow myself a day to sleep in without setting an alarm though & take my time going to the parks that morning which helps.

I agree with PPs here that since it's only you & your DH, heading straight to MK after checking in would not be a bad idea if you're excited to get to the park first thing.

aretha30 · Nov 27, 2015

We never go to a park on our arrival day. For us we use the day to settle in, check out the resort (even if we've stayed there before, helps the kids get acclimated), and go to Disney Springs to see what has changed in the last year. We come back early and get a good nights rest so we can get up early the next day. We prefer to have break days during our trip as well; we will have 3 days at the parks take a day off and then do 3 more days at the parks.

dancemonkey · Nov 27, 2015

We got annual passes for the first time before the prices went up so we will be going into the parks on our arrival day. Before we had 4-7 day hoppers. We didn't go to the parks on our travel or departure day!

Fueledbycoffee · Nov 27, 2015

We always go to the parks on arrival day even though it's after a long drive or early morning flight. The idea of being so close but not seeing The Castle is too much for me! :dumbo:

DisneyPeachNJ · Dec 1, 2015

Having done it both ways, I would say that you should skip the parks on your arrival day.
My parents would get us off the plane and two hours later we'd be in MK.
I would not recommend that to anyone that's traveling for more than three or four days.
With seven days in the parks, there's no reason to rush in on the first night and burn yourself out.

For the past two years, we take ME to our hotel for lunch, take naps, and get dressed for dinner.
It's a great, relaxing way to start our vacation.

pregnantw4thprincess · Dec 6, 2015

We plan on getting to our resort (around 1, will be getting on a flight around 8AM), checking in, then playing it by ear depending on how the kiddos are feeling...I have every intention of going to MK that day at some point, even if it is just to ride a few rides and see the castle...We are going for 10 days, so at that point the cost per day for tickets is a minimal additional cost, so we decided to get full length of stay tickets so we can keep our options open...Our last day of our stay we are definitely going to the parks as we don't leave until the evening...

My thoughts are the same as a PP's...I know that for our family being that close to the magic is going to necessitate a trip to the parks first day (plus we are @ Contemporary TPV, so we will literally be looking at it)

YawningDodo · Dec 7, 2015

Looks like I'm going to be going against the crowd, but if it's a choice between relaxing on your arrival day or taking a day off in the middle of a nine-night stay, I would definitely go on arrival day and take a resort day in the middle of the trip. 3:00 is early enough to enjoy a solid evening, though you may want to temper your expectations and go into it expecting it to be a relatively slow evening in which you don't worry about getting a ton of things done.

I say take the rest day in the middle because on our trip this last September we did six park days in a row (four WDW, two Universal). It was a blast, but we were absolutely exhausted and my legs swelled up terribly one day mid-trip (fortunately that was the night we had Hoop Dee Doo reservations, and being able to go sit down for a few hours saved the evening). I was sick for two days after coming back from that trip; I tend to be susceptible to travel illness but I really do think I would have had a better chance of avoiding it if we'd given ourselves a rest and been a little easier on our bodies -- plus we never felt like we really took full advantage of our upgrade to the Dolphin since we were only really there to sleep and eat breakfast. Eight full park days in a row is a lot. You're staying at two nice resorts, so take a day to just enjoy one of them and give yourselves a chance to recuperate.

gdrj · Dec 7, 2015

keepswimming76 said:
Hi everyone.

My husband and I are conflicted on what we should do in this situation.

We are staying 9 nights at WDW, arriving on a Thursday around noon and leaving on a Saturday afternoon. We also have a split stay which complicates matters.
4 nights AKL, then 5 nights BLT. We are planning 7 day hoppers, and using 1 day to travel to Legoland.

We cannot decide if we should go to MK on arrival day (arrive around 3 p.m. and stay until about 8) and then have an "off" day later in the trip, or if we should use arrival day as time to just regroup, enjoy the pool and get a good nights rest - and then have a couple of our park days as "half" days, so to speak.

Any advice either way is greatly appreciated. We are in the middle of our 180 ADR reservations and I am losing my mind over this matter.

I vote for a definite yes, no, and maybe! :jester:

Lots of it depends. One thing to remember is that the difference between 7 and 8 day pass I believe is only about $10.00 so if your main reason is that you don't want to waste a days ticket spend the extra ten bucks and go. You will probably spend more than that on other things if you don't go. We now have AP's so I am not sure if things changed but I believe you can an extra day on the ticket as long as you haven't used all the days up (I'm sure others will confirm if accurate).

1- I would probably visit a park and maybe FP a few rides and not worry about getting on anything else, just enjoy, shop, enjoy the park, grab dinner, if at EPCOT have a beverage or 2. Currently EMH's are at EPCOT on Thursday.
2- Or I might go to Disney Springs again dinner/drinks (notice a pattern) :drinking:

3- Or just visit hotels (monorail lounge tour) ...I might have a problem

Depending on the time of year, if we arrive earlier in the day, we might spend it at the pool and go to a park in the evening.

keepswimming76 · Dec 8, 2015

Thanks everyone for the input! Spoke with the hubby and agreed to go to the park that evening. The kids will be too excited to not wait. I think we'll take it easy, take in the sights, do a few rides and maybe have dinner. And hubby said he would certainly need a "break" day later in the week.

Parks on arrival day or no "off" day?

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